Mutt Manipulation

Sparky had a subtle way to let me know when things were borderline unacceptable to him. I believe this picture was taken while I was on break from law school. I think I had a total of 3 weeks off, but with pre-semester prep, that time was cut down to about two weeks. I remember that day I dared to lounge on my bed, watching TV, rather than being out and about with El Pooch. Don't get me wrong, by that time, he had been outside for a walk at least  2 or 3 times, but nevertheless, good was not good enough. Not when there were plenty of hugs and kisses that could have been given instead. Gosh, I loved this pooch.  So he would sit by my bed, quietly, and he would stare me down, literally. I would try to ignore him, showing off my "alpha-dog powers", but in the end, the needy pup would always win.

 

Another amazing Sparky-feature was his nose. It was big and juicy. And it had a freckle on top, one that would grow larger and larger with age. His nose was the culprit for his constant battle of the bulge. I always wished he had a little bit more self-control ... especially when it came to my dinner plate. I don't remember many times when I was able to eat my own plate without having that big, black nose nudging me, nudging the table, or the plate itself. And when I gave him a stern No(!), he would momentarily go shy on me, bow his head, lower his ears, and look off to the side ... but only for a few seconds before he would look back up to me, waiting for me to crack a smile. My vet used to tell me that he was a  little manipulator and couldn't be trusted when he had zero-ed in on something he wanted... mostly food.

There are so many Sparky tales that I hope to remember and memorialize in this blog. Dogs like Sparky, who have the patience of a saint, proven by the fact that he was living with my neurotic self, shouldn't be forgotten. I guess over the last few months I've been struggling with the fact that many people indeed were ready to forget... I think he was my little counter part, my side kick, my 'better' half ... Wherever I went, a story and a picture of Sparks went as well. When Sparky passed, so did the stories and the pictures, and a little part of myself ... Time heals all, I know ... some things just take a little longer, especially when they were as amazing as my Sparky.